Friday, December 4, 2020

Turntable and Record Player Setup Guide for Beginners

This means you can upgrade to any ½ mount cartridge your heart desires and essentially have a near audiophile-approved sound out of a budget-friendly turntable. If you’re like me and you’re looking for audiophile quality equipment to play your records then you’ll have to spend a little money on a good turntable. At $499 we consider the U-Turn Audio Orbit Special to be an excellent entry-level component at a good price. It receives our highest recommendation as a beginner audiophile turntable.

best home turntable setup

What makes it different is that it’s the first turntable with hi-res 24bit/48kHz aptX HD streaming. You can wirelessly pair it to any Bluetooth receiver or speakers, so your system and turntable don’t have to be in the same room. You can also hook up the Alva TT V2 direct to your speakers via RCA connections. Getting a high-quality turntable allows you to expand your setup down the road. There’s nothing wrong with your setup being a turntable directly to powered speakers. There are many high-quality bookshelf speakers online that produce great sound quality.

Buy better sleeves for your records

The switchable built-in phono preamp can easily be set to line-level or phono-level output to accommodate your other audio gear. All of this combines to yield wow and flutter and drift measurements that are indeed impressive. The RCA cable is integrated and the tonearm and cartridge are preconfigured and optimized, so you can get right to enjoying your LP collection. The platter doesn't automatically stop spinning when the needle reaches the end of a record's side, so you'll have to stand up, walk over, and return the tonearm to its cradle a few times every hour. You'll also have to buy an external phono preamp or connect it to a stereo equipped with a phono input, since it doesn't come with a built-in preamp.

best home turntable setup

Especially if you want the Bluetooth version of the Audioengine A5+ for a full wireless setup. The Sony PS-LX310BT won’t run rings around the AT-LP60 when it comes to sound quality, but it is definitely a step up. It also has a more traditional layout and design than the AT-LP60 which is appealing to many vinyl spinners. At a $500 budget, I still include Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT turntable. The AT-LP60 can handle this quality of speakers excellently and we generally want to upgrade the speakers before the turntable to get the overall best value. Anyway, if $400 is your budget and you want to spend more or less all of it, then I recommend pairing the Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT turntable with the Edifier R1850DB speakers.

Dual CS 518 Manual Hi-Fi 3-Speed Turntable

You’ll need RCA cables to interconnect your record player to your phono preamp, amplifier and/or powered speakers. These should have one red and one white connector, and need to be plugged from the turntable into their corresponding sockets on the next device in your chain. The powered speakers would have its own integrated amplifier so no other components are required which is perfect for smaller spaces or if you simply want a more minimal and easy to use setup.

best home turntable setup

We will also get into some nitty gritty topics to provide you with knowledge of some of the subtleties that go into achieving the maximum sound performance. When it comes to connectivity options, the product does not disappoint us at all. It has a built-in switchable phono preamplifier along with the USB cables plus RCA output cables. Improving on the NAD D3020, originally launched in 1978, the D3020 V2 is an integrated amp for a new generation. Not only did NAD compress this amp into a sleek, and compact form, the company gave it a complete overhaul. The D3020 V2 comes equipped with a phono pre-amp, coaxial, optical inputs and AptX Bluetooth connectivity.

What Is an All-In-One Turntable?

The 705 S2 are arguably one of the best bookshelf speakers out there. The bass performance of the 705 S2 speakers is impressively big, too. With a hefty mass in its wood-framed chassis, damped platter, and silicon-damped stabilizing feet, the Automat A1 offers one of the quietest platforms in its price range. This solid base gives the Automat A1 a great way to showcase its ultra-light mass aluminum tonearm and perfectly matched Ortofon OM10 moving magnet cartridge.

best home turntable setup

The Audioengine A5+ is also great speakers to pair with the Audio-Technica AT-LP120XBT-USB at a $800 budget if you don’t fancy the Klipsch speakers. If you want the Bluetooth version of the Audioengine A5+ it will cost you a bit more than the Klipsch R-51PM which comes with Bluetooth as standard. The AT-LP120XBT-USB is also a great project turntable with many mods and upgrades to choose from for personation and improved sound. The Klipsch R-51PM speakers are very musical and lively which is a great match or the AT-LP120XBT-USB turntable. My top recommendation at this price point is to pair the legendary Audio-Technica AT-LP120XBT-USB turntable with the lively and musical Klipsch R-51PM speakers. The Audioengine A5+ offers a very elegant design, sound fantastic, and have a fully analog amplifier that is great to enhance the analog vibes of spinning vinyl.

We recommend checking out an online guide or video to help you do so, and these tools are some of our picks to set up and maintain your turntable. The Rega Planar 2 is the turntable I use for my daily vinyl spinning. It looks very elegant, sounds fantastic and feels very expensive.

Regardless of cost, the same principles apply when building a vinyl setup at home. The Planar 1 is similar to the Debut Carbon Evo in its simplicity but offers even more premium components. There's a special motor that reduces music-muddying vibrations, and a high-mass spinning platter to keep your record stable and rumble-free throughout your listening.

Many audiophiles and hi-fi enthusiasts still swear by the passive model. The Audioengine A5+ is a gem of a powered speaker system for vinyl enthusiasts. It is rated with deepest bass in its class, has a genuine fully analog amplifier built-in, looks awesome and sounds awesome. If you are putting together a vinyl setup in the $800 to $1200 price range, it should definitely be high on your list.

best home turntable setup

The simplest way to hook up a turntable is to use a turntable with a built-in preamp and powered speakers. In this setup, you only need powered speakers with your turntable. This is the only setup with passive speakers, so we went big.

We don’t need to choose any of the components from the budget category. You can buy all-in-on record players much cheaper than this combo, but they will not be in this league when it comes to build quality or sound quality. Phono preamps can be standalone components, or can be built into other pieces. All of the turntables in this section come with a phono preamp built-in, so you can check both “turntable” and “phono preamp” off your checklist if you buy any of these.

best home turntable setup

Be sure and look through all of the styrofoam as many times the counterweight will be tucked away in a hidden spot in the packing. For more information about buying speakers check out our guide to Turntable Kitchen’s Top 3 Audiophile Speakers. If you’re looking to purchase a used piece of vintage equipment, or just want to see a few other options, you can check out Turntable Kitchen’s Top 5 Recommended Turntables .

Audio-Technica AT-LP60X

It comes with removable audio cables, an external power adapter, and an upgraded tonearm that results in less skipping. The fully automatic functionality (start, stop, and auto-return) also makes it extremely user-friendly. This is the perfect turntable for someone looking to get into record collecting and who wants something affordable that won’t destroy their records. The Rega Planar 1 is without doubt one of the best budget turntables in the world. The set-up is a breeze, the design is perfect, and the features are aimed only at quality of sound.

best home turntable setup

If you’re going to put good money into a stereo system, you should protect it from accidental power surges. Speaker wire probably doesn’t come in the perfect length for your stereo system, so you’ll need a pair of these to cut it to size. Speaker wire is one of those things that you need but that is so easy to forget. The good news is that high-quality speaker wire is very affordable. Experts we interviewed unanimously recommended getting this alongside a new turntable. No matter how much you spend on a turntable, it sounds only as good as the record does.

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